


Living in your head rent free

by CottonAuroras



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, And Wooseok is his boss, Coincidences, His soulmate is Seungyoun (WOODZ), Hongjoong music major, I hope this is fine, Jokes and Banter, Jongho Music Major, M/M, Mild Swearing, Mingi Music Major, Multi, October, San dance major, Seonghwa cooking major, Sharing Pain, Soulmate ceremony, Soulmate festival, Time Skips, Wooseok helps him understand soulmates, Wooyoung cooking major, Wooyoung falls down and breaks a cup, Wooyoung works in a cafe, Yeosang astronomy major, Yunho Dance major, basically no beta, magic yarn, migraines, mind reading between soulmates, one line reference of Infinity War, one line reference to alcohol (magkeoli), puns, reference to Joshua and Mingyu from Seventeen, switching POVs, work accident because of a migraine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26978470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottonAuroras/pseuds/CottonAuroras
Summary: My work for All Hallows ATEEZ fic exchange!8 boys get linked together on 1st of october. They have a month to decide if they want to turn this bond permanent or cut it.what will be their decision? There's also a festival going on.
Relationships: Everyone/Everyone
Comments: 11
Kudos: 14
Collections: All Hallows ATEEZ Exchange





	Living in your head rent free

**Author's Note:**

  * For [atiny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atiny/gifts).



> Thanks for reading! I hope this turned out fine!  
> Please leave a comment if you liked this, they really motivate!

October. 

The month where the bonds become the most active. Where the new ones, in people who just came of age show up for the first time, where those sealed long ago shine with new light and vibrate with new energy. Everything started on the 1st, the day dubbed “Stitching day” because that day new souls were “stitched” together by the bond. The humans brought together, able to hear each other and feel each other’s pain to fully understand their partner.

Also the day where Park Seonghwa got a splitting headache and cursed in his cooking course. 

He was confused. He ate a full breakfast with Shua, a full bowl of bibimbap from the cafe, slept 8 hours, the weather was perfect...So why was his head pounding like someone smashed a hammer into it? He sat on the floor and grabbed his head, the carrots he was chopping long forgotten. 

He vaguely heard someone offering a pain killer but all he could focus on was the terrible pain, the weird noises in his brain that seemed to blend together with his own thoughts, as if his brain tried to speak in two different voices. As if there was another person trying to get to his brain. And then another. And another. 

And then all of a sudden… it stopped. And he heard them loud and clear. 7 voices one after another. Saying roughly the same thing

_What the fuck? Is this how bonding feels like?_

\------------------------------

“If this is how bonding feels like, I don’t want it” Said San after gathering the strength to move up from his position on the floor and sitting on his bed. Yunho watched, also gathering his strength after falling down onto his bed. He sat down on it, facing San. 

_I wonder what happened to Yunho? Did he also get bonded to someone?_ The blue haired man heard in his head. It was San’s voice, loud and clear. There were also what sounded like 7 other voices, but San’s was the clearest to him. 

“Nope. I think we bonded together Sannie.” He said and smiled at his best friend. San’s eyes widened, mouth opening slightly. What did Yunho just say? A million thoughts raced through San’s head. 

“Calm down your head. God do you always think so fast? That’s why you always do like...5 exercises ahead of everyone in English class?” Yunho said, holding his head a little. It was still throbbing softly. He hated headaches, of any kind.

“Okay. Yeah. We’re like...definitely bonded. But why the heck do I hear like 7 other people in my head?” San said, ruffling his hair. He thought the red hair dye would feel weird in his hair, but it just felt like...well his hair. Soft. 

“We will find out later. That headache made me sleepy.” He said and made grabby hands at Yunho. “Come here. Shiber’s drying after I washed him this morning and you’re like...the best thing to cuddle besides him”

Yunho chucked fondly, but came over and cuddled his Sannie. 

This october will definitely be...interesting. 

\-------------------

“Oh my god guys!? Are you all okay???” That was the first thing Hongjoong heard after waking up on the floor of the Music department.

He was walking along with Jongho and Mingi to his studio when suddenly Mingi stumbled and fell on Hongjoong. Jongho kneeled besides them to check on them (as any friend would do) but suddenly it felt as if his head was splitting open. Did someone try to like...put electric cables to his brain? 

That's how the 3 students ended up in a loose pile on the floor, all seemingly experiencing the same headache. It was intense and awful, as if someone tried to open their heads with a giant hammer. Not ever the headache after exams was that awful.

But as quickly as it came, it went away and all three boys let out a groan, Hongjoong being the first to open his eyes, not even realising he closed them from pain. He must have passed out from the pain. 

_God what is this nonsense_ He heard a voice in his head say. A voice that sounded distinctly like Mingi’s deep voice. The red haired male looked around, noticing that Jongho had a confused and slightly bewildered expression on his face, like he saw the end of Infinity War for the first time. Hongjoong could relate. 

“God hyung, Infinity War of all films? Don’t you have newer references?” Jongho said, looking at Hongjoong. Did he say that out loud? But the only sound he could make with his mouth was a groan of pain at that moment. Then Mingi looked at both his hyung and the younger male. 

“Guys...I think we’re linked together. Because I just heard Hongjoong hyung say “Did I say it out loud?” in my head but his lips weren’t moving.” The brown haired male said, trying to stand up from his spot on the floor. With some difficulty and slower than usual, he stood up and looked around the corridor.

Seeing as the 3 boys were too busy with themselves, the person that originally tried to help them went away. It was no use if they really got bonded together. Mingi helped both Jongho and Hongjoong and smiled. 

“Yeah we’re definitely bonded. I just heard Mingi refer to Jongho as “that muscular grape” “ Hongjoong said laughing softly. Something about the youngest being called a grape made him chuckle. “But there’s also like...5 other voices. Kinda muted but still there” He added after a while, looking at his two friends. 

“Yeah definitely. I can clearly hear you two Hyungs, but there's also 5 other voices, as if they were in the room next to us. They’re there, outside of my hearing, kinda” Jongho said and then poked Mingi who yelped. 

“That’s for the muscular grape comment. Now let’s go, you guys don’t want to be late for class with Miss Lim” The purple haired male said, looking at his Hyung. They all looked at each other, nodded and went to class, not wanting to see the wrath of their music Theory professor. 

\-----------------

Yeosang was thankful that his astronomy 101 professor let them go earlier than usual. He didn’t know what he would do if he got this monster of a headache in the class or going back home. 

It started innocently. He came to his dorm room, threw his bag in the corner of the room and himself on the bed (thank god for the one person room he snatched at the beginning of the semester). At first he thought he was just tired or the headache was a result of past 6 hours staring at brightly lit powerpoint presentations and through small telescope visors. That a nap will help revive him enough for his evening study session at the library. 

But oh boy, he felt as if someone wanted to forcefully take out his brain out of his skull. He never felt such pain, not even after not sleeping for 3 days during exam week. It was the worst kind of pain, one that seemed to penetrate every corner of his head, no matter how he laid down. 

But then..it stopped. As if he took a magic pain killer or something, the pain just vanished as if it was never there. But in place of the headache, there were now 7 voices Yeosang didn’t recognise. Or technically 5 voices he never heard and 2 that he vaguely recognised. But he was still confused as if someone tried to explain quantum physics to him. 

He heard someone talk about “muscly grapes” about cooking and someone called San. If that what being stitched felt like, he couldn’t wait to tell his soulmates to shut up and leave him alone. He didn’t ask for 7 soulmates. One would be hard to have with all the pain sharing and thought hearing. 

God he really wanted a nap now. Where is his star panda plush?

\---------------

It said something about his work ethic and general personality that when Wooyoung fell over because of a headache, he was angry at himself for spilling a customers drink and letting the cup break down on the floor and he wasn’t caring one bit about the aggressive migraine that took over his head. He even tried to clean up the mess he made, but even the slightest move made him want to curl up and die. God please, he couldn’t lose this job over a stupid coffe cup. 

He closed his eyes because the lights were just _too much_ for him and vaguely heard someone coming to probably check on him. He curled up on himself and held his head between his legs, wanting that migraine to go away and let him go back to work. 

As if his “prayers” actually worked, the migraine went away in a snap of fingers, like someone struck him with a hammer or something and the pain faded. But to be safe, he slowly pulled his head back up and blinked a couple of times. 

“Oh thank god! Wooyoung, when I heard something breaking, I was worried!” Wooseok, his boss, said with a worried expression. “How are you feeling now?” He asked, looking closely at the younger male, waiting for his answer.

“I’m...fine. But There’s like extra voices in my head and I don’t know why they’re there” Wooyoung said, standing up with his boss’s help. The pair moved to sit down in the back area while another waiter cleaned up the mess. 

“Oh sweetie! That means you’re stitched to someone!’ Wooseok called happily, looking at Wooyoung. “That explains the sudden headache! Those are the worst. Thankfully, the pain you share later is less awful than this.” Wooseok said with a cheerful tone in his voice, obviously satisfied and happy for his coworker and friend. “How many voices are there?”

“There’s...like 7 I think.” Wooyoung said after taking a moment to try and listen to all the people in his head. “I think this bring the whole “living in my head rent free” idea literally”

Wooseok laughed. “Ahh yes the thought reading. You can kinda mute it all but it’s always there in the back of your head. I’m tired of listening to Seungyoun not knowing what kind of bass he wants to use in a song but that’s the soulmate life I guess.” He said and looked at Wooyoung. 

“You can have the rest of the day free if you want. It’s slow anyways and there’s like 2 other waiters. I will call you if I need extra help” He said. Wooyoung tried to decline but after Wooseok’s insistence, he caved in and gave his Hyung the work apron and took his stuff before going home. 

Maybe he will take a nap after this. 

\----------

“ “Find dance majors to partner up with! Make a performance….It’s for the festival!” “ Hongjoong said, mocking his, Mingi and Jongho’s music performance professor. Jongho laughed and Mingi chuckled at him before yelping in pain and standing still. 

“One of our soulmates must be a dance major, seriously. I never felt such pain. Af if I went with Jongho to the gym for 3 hours” He said and it was Hongjoong’s time to laugh. Jongho looked both hurt and smug. 

“Well if you went with me to the gym, you would be used to being sore after training and you wouldn’t whine like a child that didn’t get their favourite toy in a crane game” Jongho said. Obviously, he was also hurting as if he went to the gym yesterday (which he didn’t) but he was used to the feeling, having to go to school or Uni sore many times. 

“I don’t know if they’re a dancer for sure. They could be. Is there any way to like...find your soulmate through the bond?” Hongjoong asked, looking at his friends. After almost getting ran over by a running student, they moved off the pavement, standing under one of the buildings. 

“Ughhh...concentrate really hard and to try and hear what they’re doing?” Mingi suggested, unsure of if what he said was actually possible. You could hear your soulmate’s thoughts and feel their pain but trying to find out where they were out of those information didn’t seem possible. 

Jongho, who was standing near the door to the building, wanted to say something, maybe that they should just go to the building where practice rooms were and try to find their soulmate (or soulmates potentially) there but instead, he felt someone fall onto his back making him stumble. And then him and the mysterious falling person both let out an ‘Oh!” followed by the mysterious person calling “Yun, you don’t push people like that!” 

Both Hongjoong and Mingi who watched it happen also felt as if someone pushed them lightly. It was...weird to say the least. And Even more weirder was that they could clearly hear one voice in their heads saying “Damnit Yunho, I almost tumbled over a cute boy” and another saying “Worth it” 

“I don’t know what’s worth it but if it’s in relation to pushing friends onto other people, please don’t do that. That’s could really hurt our Jongho” Hongjoong said, looking at the two unknown boys, now standing next to Jongho and apologising to him. 

The taller of the two boys, gasped. He had fluffy pink hair, soft looking brown eyes and a smile on his face. He looked like a pink puppy got turned into a human. “You..You heard my thoughts!” and then he turned to the smaller boy who had soft looking blond hair eyes who looked soft but sharp. If the pink haired boy looked like a puppy then the blonde reminded Hongjoong of a kitten. 

“Sannie we found our soulmate!’ The tall pink boy said, looking at Hongjoong with wide eyes. The blonde, now dubbed “Sannie” looked at Hongjoong, then at Mingi, then at Jongho. 

“To answer your unasked question: Yes you found 3 soulmates, not just one. Thanks for calling me a long cat, haven't heard that one about my height” Mingi said, smiling at San. San blushed slightly and tried to hide behind his tall friend’s back. 

“By the way I’m Mingi, the small strawberry is my hyung Hongjoong and the grape boy you ran into is Jongho who's a year younger than me.” He said after a second of watching San’s shyness. 

“Hey” Hongjoong said, looking at the two boys “ Not to break the whole “wow soulmates” thing but do you know any dance majors? We’re kinda in need of some because our professor said we have to four a group with them to make a performance for the festival” 

“Well me and Yunho are dance majors actually. So like...we can work with you. You get to work for the project and also we all get to know each other.” San said, standing next to Yunho once again. 

“Oh Yeah! I heard something about a collaboration between music and dance from our professors when they talked about what to do for the festival! I really want to do something like that!” Yunho said and in this moment, really reminded all three music majors of an excited puppy. 

“That’s great. So like let’s exchange numbers or something and meet up to discuss everything” Hongjoong suggested and pulled out his phone, giving it to San and Yunho. 

San put his number into Hongjoong’s phone and grinned “But that’s so cool,meeting your soulmates like that. I wonder who the others are” He said and the rest of the boys nodded.

Maybe they will meet their other soulmates at the festival. It was dedicated to that whole concept after all.

\----------------------------

Seonghwa came out of his baking class and stretched his arms, making 50 cupcakes was harder on his arms than he thought. He looked around and saw a group of people around the info board. For a second he was confused why so many people gathered around it, his brain still stuck on how to make strawberry buttercream using only strawberry juice but then he went “ahh” and snapped his fingers. The Festival.

It was tradition that on the 29th of October, two days before “soulmate” day, Han University

held the biggest soulmate-related festival in all of Seoul. All departments were involved in creating booths or entertainment or taking care of the backstage. The cooking departament (aka Seonghwa’s) always had a few food and drinks booths. And then Hwa cursed, remembering a particular detail. Detail that was the reason people gathered over the info board.

Those booths were made up of someone from the first year and someone from either 2nd or 3rd year. And Seonghwa really didn’t want to be paired with some clueless 1st year who didn’t know how to hold a knife properly or didn’t know the right temperatures for cooking and baking. 

But he took a deep breath and once most of the people went away from the info board, he walked to it to see how screwed up he would be this year. 

He searched for his own name, before slowly going over to his partner. “Jung Wooyoung” He read out loud. _It could be worse_ Seonghwa thought as he let out a sigh. From what Hwa heard and saw, Jung Wooyoung seemed to be competent enough at cooking to be a good partner. 

His next action would be just going home and trying to find Wooyoung the next day, before or between his classes. But instead he heard a yell and saw a head of silver hair run up to him, before stopping next to the board. 

“My god I wouldn’t even think of checking this board if Yeonjun didn’t tell me ‘Hey weren’t they supposed to announce the festival pairings today?” The silver haired male said, probably talking to himself. Seonghwa watched as his eyes scanned the board for his own name, seemingly not being able to find it. 

“What’s your name? Maybe I will be able to help?” Seonghwa asked, wanting to help this...seemingly confused soul in search of his identity. _My god what a mess_ He thought to himself.

The silver boy looked at Seonghwa, eyed him and huffed, like actually huffed like an offended child that didn’t get to play with his favourite toy and said “You can help me. And for the record I’m not a mess. Just not used to being in Uni”. 

_Oh shit, Did I call him a mess out loud? But I don’t remember saying it._ Seonghwa thought. “Well I need your name if you want me to find you on the board” He said to the silver haired male, looking at him with soft yet slightly confused eyes. _Or You’re Jung Wooyoung and if that’s the case, I’m Park Seonghwa and I really don’t want to make any more cupcakes._

The boy’s eyes lit up and his lips stretched into a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sick of making cupcakes too.” He said and giggled. “Also thanks for that burn last week Soulmate. I had to go to the second date of my Korean cuisine exam because of that. How did you do that, I couldn’t even hold a knife properly” 

Seonghwa wanted to scream. But he took a deep breath. He will scream later, when he’s alone in his apartment. “Well a dude that has a vendetta against me, switched my butter knife for one that he held over a flame for like a good minute or two. I just grabbed it not knowing better and burned my damn hand. Thankfully my friend, Mingyu, saw him do it and reported him.” He answered, looking at Wooyoung a little closely. So this was the first year he was paired up with, huh? 

“That’s not cool.” Wooyoung said at first, then smiled at Hwa. “I heard some things about you, Hyung. You’re apparently like...one of the more talented students in the department. Or at least in general cooking.” He added, still smiling. 

“Thanks. I heard some good things about you too. At 20, you want to already have a certificate in Korean cuisine, eh?’ The black haired hyung said, returning the smile. Half to be polite, half because the younger just made him want to smile. 

“Yeah. I plan to live abroad and open a Korean restaurant after Uni. I want to spread how good our food is to people who may not know it” Wooyoung said, puffing his chest out lightly, proud of himself. 

“That's good. Maybe we can use those korean skills of yours for the food we want to make?” Seonghwa said, pulling out his phone and giving it to Wooyoung. “Write me your number here and we can talk about meeting up and talking” 

Wooyoung took the phone and wrote his number in but grinned. “Why not now? Classes have ended for us both, I know that all of the departament finishes at the same time today. We can go to a cafe or something and talk stuff out. Get to know each other. You know, like soulmates should” 

Seonghwa took his phone from Wooyoung’s hand, and huffed to fake annoyance. “Fine. But not more cupcakes.” 

“No more cupcakes” Woo said and took Hwa’s hand before dragging him away from the board. 

\-----------------

Yeosang liked his part time job. It wasn’t exactly anything exciting (he would call cleaning floors or dusting planets particularly thrilling) but it was interesting and aligned with his Astronomy major as it was the city planetarium. Sometimes he got to use the projector that was used for showing planets in 3D and sometimes he could spend the day listening to the guide talk about how Pluto used to be a planet. He really liked those days. 

But most of the time he just sat in the entrance, checking people’s tickets and telling them where the toilet was or how long the visit would take. On the slower days, he used this time to do his homework and read his notes or to play some games on his phone, maybe catch up on a manhwa or two. 

He didn’t expect meeting two aggressively beautiful men who looked like they walked out of a perfume advertising billboard. He believed they were real only because they both had messy hair and their clothes looked casual and gave the vibe of “this is what I had in my closet and it just fits together”. The silver haired one was slightly smaller than the black haired one who was taller and slightly more slim. 

The black haired one walked up to Yeosang and gave him the tickets. But when he was reaching to take them, he heard (at least in his head) _Wow I didn’t know cute boys worked in places like these_. Flustered, Yeosang accidentally grabbed the man’s hand and not the tickets, making him even more flustered. 

_Oh my god I am making a total mess out of myself._ He thought. And then he heard the silver haired boy giggle. 

“I wouldn’t call you a “total mess”. A cute mess. But not a total one” The silver haired boy said and giggled again. “Jung Wooyoung. I am probably your soulmate” 

Yeosang blushed even harder. The black haired male (who didn’t move since Yeosang grabbed his hand) looked at him and smiled. “Park Seonghwa. I think I’m your second soulmate. If you can hear me my thoughts about how cute you are” 

_Finding two soulmates in one day? It must be the damn Libras_ Yeosang thought, letting go of Seonghwa’s hand after he finally realised he was holding onto it the whole time. 

_Well I don’t know what Libras have to do with meeting us but we’re here and we're very much your soulmates_ Wooyoung thought “back” to Yeosang, to prove that he was indeed his soulmate. Then he looked at Seonghwa. 

“Say something in your head too, Hyung! So he will believe we’re both linked to him!” He said and Seonghwa sighed. Over the day he found out that Wooyoung can be very loud and kinda annoying if he wants. 

_What Woo says it’s true. I think there’s like 7 or 8 of us, soulmates. Unusual but I’m not complaining,_ Seonghwa said, looking at Yeosang with a small smile on his face. 

Yeosang was deeply confused but also kind of happy that he found at least part of the voices that plagued his head for the past week. But then he looked at the tickets in his hand and sighed.

“Still want to go in? I can show you around if you want, someone else can take this spot” He said, waving the tickets in his hand. Seonghwa chuckled and Wooyung laughed slightly. He completely forgot about those as they talked with Yeo. 

“If you insist” Woo said and this time Yeo smiled and started walking in the direction of the first exhibition, talking animatedly about how The Big Bang happened and started the universe. 

\----------------

As the festival came closer and closer, all of the boys were in midst of intense preparation and lots of stress. Hongjoong and Mingi tried really hard to create a song that would fit the hopeful, happy mood at the festival. In the end they decided on a song they named “Promise” and along with Jongho, Yunho and San singing, they began creating the song. At the same time Yunho and San tried to create a choreography that would fit the song but wouldn’t be too hard since they wanted Hongjoong, Mingi and Jongho to dance on the stage with them. 

Seonghwa and Wooyung spend all their days in one of the kitchens at their departament, thinking of different recipes they could do. They wanted to make something simple, using Wooyoung’s korean food skills and Seonghwa’s efficiency in the kitchen. They settled on making korean pancakes with various fillings and hot tea. They wanted to serve it with makgeolli but thought since it’s a family festival, it wouldn’t be appropriate so hot tea it was. 

Yeosang spent his time researching astrology and astronomy for a booth of his own idea: Finding the planet alignment of a special day. It could be an anniversary, a day where you got a good grade...anything. A person would have to give the date and an approximate hour and Yeosang would print out a star chart of that day and hand it to that person. He was really proud of that idea but it demanded a lot of knowledge, a computer with a special program and a printer. Thankfully some of his friends were computer majors so he got help from them. 

During those times, the boys learned to communicate with each other through their mind link and what sharing pain truly meant. When Hongjoong struggled with his song he heard 7 voices tell him to take it easy and have a break. One in particular, liked to scold him if he caught Hongjoong thinking about not eating. When Seonghwa burned himself with a hot pan, he had voices tell him that it was okay and that they will live with this feeling. When San complained about sore muscles, he had his mind full of tips on how to relieve that feeling.

Even though some of them knew nothing but a name they could attach to a voice, together they came to understand each other and help each other in hard times.

Finally, the day of the festival came. Everyone was filled with excitement, nervousness and mild anxiety. They all wanted their projects to be successful, for people to enjoy them and have fun. But most of all: they wanted to meet their soulmates.

The boys all agreed to meet before the performance part of the festival started. They would gather around Wooyoung’s and Seonghwa’s food stall as Yeosang operated his with few other people. They set up a code, they would say in their minds so only the soulmates would hear it. The code was “I promise I will always be there~” As a nod to the song the music boys worked on. This way they could meet with not that many people around, as most came slightly before or during the performance part. The time they set up was 12:30 am with the performances starting at 1:30 pm, giving them around an hour of time together. 

But first was setting everything up. Seonghwa and Wooyoung especially, had to set their stall with a small working induction plate and all the batter and add-ins to the pancakes basically finished and ready to be fried. Also a big pot of boiling water for tea making. Thankfully the cooking departament had everything electric they needed to use ready and tested, to avoid any mishaps and problems. 

Yeosang also had to set up a laptop and a wireless printer in his stall, making sure that the program he was going to use ran smoothly and everything showed up and printed properly. To check, he printed out the star map of the day he met Seonghwa and Wooyung at the planetarium. To his relief it worked out exactly as it was supposed to. 

Hongjoong, Mingi, Jongho, San and Yunho were one of the last to perform so they didn’t have that much to do in terms of preparing. The last rehearsal was the day before so the only thing they could do was hope that the microphones wouldn’t break and that everything would go fine during the performance. 

They were also the first ones to go to Hwa’s and Woo’s stall when the clocks on their phones showed 12:20 am. They walked there, knowing they had to look for a pair of boys, one having black hair and one having a fading silver. 

“I hope they’re as nice as they were while mind talking to them.” Yunho said, ruffling his now blond hair nervously. Hongjoong nodded, smiling at the tall puppy boy. 

“They must be. They can’t lie to us when we can literally read their thoughts. You know how many times Seonghwa heard me call him an idiot in my head.” At that San and Mingi laughed softly. 

“And he always scolded you for that Hyung.” San said smiling and stretching his arms. 

At some point Mingi stood in place and looked around. 

I think I found them guys” He called out, pointing to a stall with a sign “warm jeon and tea in many flavours!”. San grinned widely and grabbed Hongjoong’s and Jongho’s hands before running to the stall. 

He already thought of the code along with a _“I want a kimchi pancake!”_ making all of the boys chuckle at his enthusiasm.

At the stall, Seonghwa and Wooyoung grinned when he heard San’s voice in his head. ‘I think they’re gonna be here soon.” Woo said, already pouring some of the batter onto the pan they’re cooking pancakes on. 

“I think you mean “They’re going to be here in like a minute” Seonghwa said and turned Wooyoung’s head so the younger would also see San running with Hongjoong and Jongho, Mingi and Yunho slightly behind walking and laughing. 

Wooyoung laughed, seeing how eager San was to see them. The looks on Hongjoong’s and Jongho’s faces were also pretty funny looking as they tried to keep up with the blond. 

“Wooyoungiee~’ San called as he let go of his friends hands to run around the stall and hug the silver haired male. Wooyoung yelped but hugged him back, giggling. 

“So excited to meet us in person, like a puppy” Seonghwa joked and San pouted slightly, looking at the older male.

“Yunho’s the puppy tho. I’m just a kitten that really wanted to finally meet his soulmates” He said and Seonghwa cooed at him, ruffling his hair and smiling.

“You mean our soulmates, Sannie. They’re not only yours” Hongjoong said once he stood in front of the stall. He smiled at Seonghwa and Wooyoung. “Nice to finally see your face and attach it to a voice I’ve been hearing in my head”

“Yeah likewise. Hearing a voice but knowing the face...I really wanted to know how you guys look” Yunho said, Watching as Wooyoung prepared and gave San a kimchi pancake. 

“Well we could tell each other our phone numbers and just send selcas to each other but Hongjoong Hyung said that “noo it wouldn’t be good, the tradition is that you see your soulmate in person…” Jongho said, mocking the older’s voice. Hongjoong hit him in the head for it. 

“So, now we’re only missing Yeosang,don’t we?” Hongjoong said, looking around for the brown haired astronomy major. But then he heard someone tap him in the back and he jumped. 

“Well you’re not missing me now” Yeosang said after letting out a few chuckles at how startled Hongjoong seemed to be. 

“Sangie~ You’re here~” Wooyoung called out, happy to see the boy. 

“Hey! You’re even prettier than Seonghwa Hyung and Wooyoung claimed” Mingi said, grinning. Yeosang blushed softly, rubbing his neck. 

“Great! We’re here together! How it went “we’re here, we’re queer…” San said, thinking of a way to finish the sentence. 

“And I can make everyone pancakes?’ Wooyoung suggested, lifting his spatula up. The boys laughed, looking at him. Jongho smiled and tossed a coin to Seonghwa. 

“Good enough. And speaking of food, I was really craving some spring onion pancakes” He said, watching as Wooyoung expertly mixed the onion into the batter and poured it on the pan. 

“He had a lot of practice.” Seonghwa said, giving everyone a cup of tea. 

Once everyone had eaten, talked and exchanged numbers, It was time for the music boys to go wait in the backstage for their performance. There were a lot more people than before and Wooyoung and Seonghwa were constantly making pancakes. Yeosang went back to his stall to also do his portion of the job there. 

Soon it was time for Hongjoong, Mingi, Jongho, San and Yunho to perform. The rest of the soulmates wouldn’t be able to see it in person due to working at their respective stalls but the performances were recorded so Hongjoong planned to give them each a copy later. 

After giving themselves one last “break a leg but not really” and checking for the 15th time if the microphones were working properly, they came out onto the scene and started their song. 

The audience could feel that they poured their heart, tears and soul into the song and the dance. They were doing their best and making sure everyone watching them enjoyed the spectacle. 

It was only 3 minutes but it was the most intensive 3 minutes of their lives. After finishing they were tired, sweaty and wanted nothing but to collapse. 

“I hope our soulmates will like it” Hongjoong said, giving the microphones to the next person performing. 

“I’m sure they will. It’s about them after all” Mingi answered, tired and sweaty. 

And with those words, the boys enjoyed the rest of the festival backstage, cooling off and eating food from the stalls around the stage. 

\------------------

31st of October was probably the most important day in October. It was the “Star Yarn Day”, the day in which people stitched together on the 1st day decided they wanted to be together forever or wait another year for another person. 

The 8 boys couldn’t be more excited. The ceremony was always at night, where you could see the moon and the stars shine on the potential soulmates. The stitched people would hold the sacred star yarn in their hands and decide if they wanted to wrap it around their pinkies together with one piece of yarn or two. If they decided to use one piece of yarn, it meant they would be soulmates, the yarn keeping them together at all times. 

If they used two pieces of yarn though, it meant they wanted to be kept separate. the scissors cutting the yarn into two, would cut their mental connection, the ‘stitches’ holding their souls together. 

But the boys knew they wanted to be together. In that month, they grew so close to each other. They didn’t want to think what would happen if they couldn’t be together.

And so they dressed in their best clothes, gathered the courage and went into the night, to the centre of the city where the ceremony took place. 

When they got there, many people were already there, waiting anxiously for their and their partner’s names to be called out, waiting to either seal their future or go their separate ways. 

“Welcome to the annual Star Yarn Day! I hope we find many new soulmates together!” Called out the main host of the ceremony. 

“The rules are as follows: When we call out your name, please come onto the platform and stand on one side of the table. Then we will call out the name of the person or people you’re stitched with. When all of the potential soulmates are standing at the table, you will get a piece of Star Yarn prepared for you. Starting from the person that was called out, please either wrap the yarn around your pinky finger or take the scissors and cut off your piece. In case of bigger groups, when everyone is done choosing, those who want to stay as soulmates, will hold their hands and let the moon priest wash your heads, hands and feed you Moon water. Those who wish to sever their connection will walk off to the side. when everything is done, everyone will walk off the platform and the ritual will begin again” The host explained, looking at everyone in the crowd. Then he called out the first person. 

The first people on the platform were a pair of two girls who both looked absolutely delighted to be there. They happily tied each other’s pinkies in yarn and clasped their hands, smiling widely. The priest blessed them with moon water and when they were told to get off the platform, they skipped off, kissing each other’s cheeks and looking at the yarn around their pinkies.

Seonghwa watched as some pairs decided to become soulmates, some decided to cut their link. A sad case was of a trio of two girls and a boy in which one boy and girl wanted to be soulmates with each other but not with the 3rd girl. They ended up cutting their links to her,making the girl cry and run off. 

But after what seemed like a long time, Seonghwa heard it. He heard his name 

“Park Seonghwa, please step onto the platform” With those words, the black haired male walked forward and stepped onto the platform in the middle. On it was a big while circle table with a pair of scissors on it. Seonghwa found a place to stand and waited for further instructions. 

“We ask Choi Jongho, Choi San, Jeong Yunho, Jung Wooyoung, Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong and Song Mingi to step up and stand around the table” The Host called out, waiting for the boys to stand next to Seonghwa. 

One after another, they walked up and stood around the white table, nerves making them unable to think about anything else other than what was in front. 

After they all stood on the platform, the priest brought a long piece of yarn. It was navy in colour yet seemed to shine and show different colours. 

“Please pick up the yarn, and start the ceremony” The host called out again and Seonghwa gulped. It was time. 

He picked up the yarn, thinking about how soft it was before wrapping it around his pinky. his finger felt heavier for a second before it felt as if nothing was there. He watched as Jongho wrapped the yarn around his fingers, Then San did the same, Yunho, Wooyoung, Yeosang, Hongjoong. All wrapped the yarn around their pinkies and now watched as Mingi picked up the end and after struggling a little, wrapped it around his pinky as well. 

There it was. The confirmation that they all wanted to be together forever. Because they knew. 

They knew they were 8 souls meant to represent one. One soul marking them as mates, forever. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, Thanks for reading my fic!  
> My Twitter is @CottonAuroras . you can come there to scream at me about my fics, K-pop or Percy Jackson books lol


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